


watashi wa choudo nani ja juuyo ka (mitsukeyou toshite iru)

by tikii



Category: Cytus (Video Games)
Genre: .PNG, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Support, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii
Summary: in which joe takes ivy in( an au of sorts )
Relationships: Ivy | OPCI_2501_IV & Joe Miller
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	watashi wa choudo nani ja juuyo ka (mitsukeyou toshite iru)

**Author's Note:**

> this idea came from the crytus server so if y'all wanna join go look at the link in the other two cytus fics i have 
> 
> so basically this is an au in which joe finds ivy stealing from his tip box and instead of like kicking her out or whatever he actually takes her in and lets her stay , and she does work around the bar and shit and they grow closer and its basically like a found family thing
> 
> enjoy !!

This new girl that Joe had taken in was.. strange. Her story was… strange. The way she talked and acted was… strange. It was oddly robotic - oddly emotionless. 

Her name was Ivy. She had introduced herself when Joe found her stealing from his tip box. She explained that she had woken up alone in a desolate place and hadn’t had food or water in days, and that she didn’t know what to do with herself. When Joe asked if she had anyone she was related to that she could live with, she stated that she did, however, they were far away from here and she didn’t know exactly where they were.

...Ivy was oddly calm for someone who had just woken up alone with nowhere to go.

Joe had felt… pity for her, so he allowed her to stay with him and work in his bar so that she could get on her feet and figure out where to go from there.

It started off… rocky. Ivy was poker-faced the entire time, simply wiping the counters here and there and counting money. She refused to call him by his name and showed barely any emotion, simply going through the motions and going to the guest room Joe had let her sleep in when the day was finished.

In hindsight, Joe should have figured out that she  _ wasn’t exactly human  _ sooner. The way he found out was rather unfortunate - upon coming back to the bar, Ivy got pushed over by a drunk customer and beer was spilled all over her, getting her clothes all wet.

This was the first emotion Joe had seen Ivy express -  _ annoyance. _

Joe quickly assured her that he would get her new clothes and put the customer in their place before running off, figuring that after he put that customer in their place, the cafe would be able to hold its own by itself while he was gone. 

Ivy went to the guest room as Joe jogged to his own, rummaging through his clothes to see what he could find.

...based off the vibe Joe got from Ivy, he figured that tight-fitting clothes would be a no-go for her, especially with her trying to sink into that giant jacket of hers all the time. So, he found one of his hoodies, a pair of sweatpants and a shirt and made his way back to Ivy’s room.

The door wasn’t closed all the way, so he figured that he could just walk in.

And that was exactly what he did.

“I have some spare clothes for you-“ Joe spoke, stepping into the room.

Then he froze.

Ivy only had her jacket off, however, that left her arms exposed. On her arms were shiny pieces of metal, some even a little dirty around the edges. They were  _ in her arms  _ and not just jewelry.

_...she’s not human. _

Joe’s realization wasn’t as surprising as he hoped it would be.

Instead of making a big deal, Joe set down the spare clothes at the foot of the bed and slunk back to the doorway, Ivy’s stare carving a hole into him.

“...we’ll talk when the cafe closes.” Joe said firmly, then he closed the door behind him.

(Ugh. What was he? A dad?!) 

Staying true to his word, he and Ivy talked after the cafe was closed and the ‘open’ sign outside was turned off.

A week after Joe had taken Ivy in, he had learned her whole story.

Ivy was reluctant to share it all, but Joe reassured her that she didn’t have to tell him  _ everything  _ \- just the basics so that he knew what he was dealing with. 

To be honest, when he found out that Ivy was an architect, things made… a little more sense. The emotionless - the lack of expression - it just made a little more sense to him. By the end of the night, he learned what the Blessed were and what had happened, and he came to realization:

Ivy wasn't expressing emotion just because she was an architect - from what Joe gathered, the Blessed were a small group of architects that could actually feel like humans did. 

_ Ivy wasn’t expression emotion because she hadn’t  _ **_felt_ ** _ emotion in a long time.  _

After the talk that Joe had with Ivy, Joe left with a promise - not only to Ivy, but to himself:

He was going to help Ivy  _ feel.  _ He was going to help her feel… human. Happiness, sadness, anger - the whole nine yards. He had taken her in to help her, and he would be damned if he didn’t help her.

...annoyance was a start, he guessed. 

When it came to experiencing emotions, Joe wanted Ivy’s first official experience with him to be a positive one. So, he wanted to make her feel… happy. He wasn’t sure how to do that or what would make her happy, but he was determined to make her happy.

Turns out, he didn’t even have to.

Zark would come into the cafe every now and again, laying on the ground and whining for more food and water. He usually spent most of his time outside in the back, so Ivy wasn’t very well acquainted with Zark.

At first, Zark barked at Ivy loudly, trying to bite at the hem of her hood and jumping onto her legs. Ivy would just roll her eyes, huff and shake Zark away, retreating behind the bar and kind of… hiding behind Joe.

Joe found it a little endearing. 

But he couldn’t have his two roommates at odds with one another.

So, one day before opening, Joe dragged Ivy to the back where Zark was laying down and inched them together, letting out a small laugh when Zark barked and Ivy scooted back. “Don’t worry - he’s not gonna hurt you.” 

“I’m… not worried.” Ivy said quietly, clearly unsure of herself. “He…?”

“That’s Zark.” Joe explained, sitting down next to Ivy on the steps. “...please tell me you know what dogs are.”

“Yes. Humans keep them as pets.” Ivy nodded. “Humans describe dogs as ‘companions’, do they not?”

“You’re right.” Joe nodded his head, reaching his hand out to Zark. Almost immediately, Zark’s head was under it, and Joe was petting Zark affectionately. “Good boy!” 

Ivy watched with curiosity as Joe continued to pet Zark, even continuing when Zark rolled onto his stomach. Joe gave Zark one last rub before turning to Ivy with a grin on his face. “Go on - your turn.”

“...excuse me?”

“You can pet Zark, if you want.” 

Ivy looked at Zark with furrowed eyebrows, her hands limp in front of her. She looked… a little reluctant. Zark simply yipped and padded closer to Ivy, curling up right next to her so that she could reach him better. 

Ivy hesitantly brought her hand down on Zark’s head, patting him once or twice. Zark barked loudly and Ivy blinked in reply, looking to Joe for a second before looking back down at Zark.

“Just do what I did earlier.” Joe instructed. “Rub his fur - scratch him behind the ears. Do it gently.”

“...why are you doing this?” Ivy’s voice was quiet - quieter than Joe had ever heard it. 

“Is it wrong for me to want my guest acquainted with the alpha of the cafe?” Joe joked with a grin.

“...alpha…? I am afraid I am not familiar with the term.”

“Never mind. Just pet him already, would you?” Joe urged impatiently. “The cafe’s about to open.”

“Fine.” Ivy huffed and turned back to Zark, who was looking at Ivy almost expectantly. After a moment of hesitance, Ivy reached out and ran her fingers through Zark’s fur, letting out a small gasp when Zark yipped and pressed into her hand more. “...woah.” 

“Do you like it?” Joe asked, suppressing a snort. 

Ivy went to scratch Zark behind the ears, mimicking Joe’s motions from before. She said nothing - she just continued to pet Zark in a trance, a sparkle appearing in her eyes that Joe hadn’t seen before.

After a couple of minutes of petting, Ivy retracted her hands and put them to her chest, her eyebrows furrowing and a small frown settling on her face. 

“Is everything okay?” Joe asked cautiously.

“...I feel odd.” 

“In what way?” 

“...hm. My chest feels odd.” Ivy replied.

“In a good way, or a bad way?” 

It took a second for Ivy to reply this time. “I believe… I believe it is in a good way.” The shine in her eyes was back. “Does this dog possess magical abilities?”

Joe snorted and moved around Ivy, picking Zark up from the step. “Sure - magical powers to make you happy no matter what.” 

“...happy? Is that… is that the emotion I am feeling at the moment? Am I feeling happiness?” 

Joe beamed. “I think it is!” 

Mission Get Ivy To Feel Happiness was a success! 

“Happiness…” Ivy murmured under her breath, somewhat of a glow about her. 

And then she  _ smiled, _ and although it was lopsided and awkward and weird and looked a little more like a grimace, it was a smile.

It was a start.

After that day, Zark followed Ivy around at her heels, yipping and barking for her attention every now and again. Ivy would bend down and pet him quickly before going back to what she was doing, Zark still following at her heels.

(Joe had to admit, he was a bit jealous. Zark used to follow  _ him  _ around all the time, but it was all in good fun.)

Ivy was beginning to look… a little happier. The dullness that was once in her eyes was being canceled out by a small sparkle, and she had even flashed a lopsided smile once or twice (although, they looked like a grimace, but it was  _ progress). _

However, emotions aside, there was a little problem that Joe had with Ivy, and it was that she refused to call him by his actual name. She called him ‘bartender human’, and ‘musician human’, but never ‘Joe’. It had been about three weeks since Joe had taken her in - three days since the Zark incident - and Ivy had yet to call Joe by his actual name.

He tried to push her in the right direction, but never actually got her to call him by his actual name.

On top of that, Joe was trying to figure out another emotion to help Ivy feel, but he was a little bit at a loss of what to do.

Luckily, Joe didn’t have to do anything, because the stars seemed to align for him for one day. 

It was a Friday, and the cafe had been open for quite some time. Ivy was helping Joe work at the bar, telling him what customers wanted and helping with the pool tables. It was a rather peaceful night, the chattering of customers filling in the silence in the cafe. 

That was until two customers started to get into a loud altercation, and they were starting to get physical and scaring some of the other customers around them. Joe was quickly out from behind the bar, trying to break them apart. He was used to this kind of behavior and even had a whole system for something like this, but he wasn’t prepared for one of the customers to push him roughly to the side, yelling at him to ‘get out of the way’.

The moment Joe fell over and smacked his head against the pool table, there was a yell:

“Joe!” 

Joe quickly sat up on the floor and watched as Ivy ran out from behind the bar, stopping in front of Joe and hesitating before turning to the two customers who were fighting, a different kind of shine in her eyes.

“Can you two show yourselves out by yourselves, or will I have to escort you two?” Ivy practically growled, her hands curling into fists. 

“Who do you think you are-“ the customer stepped forward and glowered at Ivy, practically towering over her in every way possible. A sudden wave of panic surged over Joe as the customer tried to shove her back-

Key word being  _ try.  _

Ivy barely even moved. 

She barely even tipped over.

“Well.” Ivy grabbed the customer by the front of the shirt. “I suppose I will be  _ escorting  _ you two out.” 

And with that, with all eyes on her, Ivy dragged both customers out of the cafe and closed the door behind them, brushing her hands on the ends of her coat when she was finished. 

“...I apologize for that.” Ivy stated in the silence of the cafe. “You can go back to whatever you were doing.

Joe watched as everyone went back to what they were doing, slowly but surely, and the volume in the cafe slowly began to raise again. Ivy jogged over to Joe and helped him off the floor, examining him for any other injuries.

There was a fire in her eyes that Joe hadn’t seen before.

Was she… was she angry? 

Ivy awkwardly patted Joe in the shoulder and went back to behind the bar, going back to taking orders from customers as if nothing happened. 

(...from where Joe was standing, she looked pretty angry.)

(... _ that was the first time she said his name. _ )

After Joe closed up the cafe, he immediately made his way to stand next to Ivy, a grin on his face. “So…”

“...d-don’t think that meant anything.” Ivy grumbled. “They were… bothering me.”

Joe perked up. “Did you feel something? Something new?” 

“...I believe so.” Ivy replied honestly, averting her gaze. “It was… odd. It was not a pleasant feeling.” 

“Describe it to me.” Joe leaned against the counter as Ivy scrunched her nose in confusion.

“...why?”

“I just want to know. I think I can help you identify what you’re feeling.” 

“...I felt hot.” Ivy said quietly, tugging at the corners of her hood. “It wasn’t very pleasant, as I stated before. But the oddest part was that it was… directed towards that human.” 

“Anger.” Joe said. “You were angry.” 

“Anger…” Ivy put a hand to her chest, a small frown on her face. “...Angry. I was… angry. At the customer. Who pushed you.” Her eyes flickered to meet Joe’s for a second. “...you don’t have any additional injuries, do you?” 

“No, no - I think I’ll just take some Advil and call it a day.” Joe said with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just… you called me by my name.”

Ivy crossed her arms over her chest, looking away. “...and?” 

“Nothing. Thanks for helping.” Joe smiled softly. “Maybe I’ll make you the official bouncer of the cafe.”

“...bouncer…?”

“Nevermind. Get some rest, would you?” Joe patted her on the shoulder. Ivy blinked twice, looking as if she was simply… processing something. She looked down at the hand on her shoulder and then back at Joe, a lopsided smile forming on her face. 

“...okay. You too.”

Although Joe wanted to ease her into the more negative emotions, this was… a learning experience for both of them.

Ivy learned how to identify anger -

And Joe learned that he probably  _ shouldn’t  _ get that close to bar fights. 

Weeks passed by smoothly and happily - Zark was as enthusiastic as ever, Ivy was beginning to… smile and interact with Joe more, her demeanor and attitude a bit lighter and less unsure, and Joe’s company was prospering. 

...but it was partly because of the gangs. 

The gangs gave him half of the money, and while it helped his business, Joe didn’t really feel too good about it - he had never really felt too good about it, but he had to roll with it. He had to keep Saxon’s legacy of… a neutral ground alive. 

And then  _ they killed Zark. _

Joe was relieved that Ivy had been sent out on a grocery trip or else those gang members might have not made it out alive. 

(...that probably wouldn’t have been a bad thing, if Joe was thinking about it.)

When Ivy came back, Joe was sitting at the bar, drinking his fourth bottle of beer, wallowing in grief and sorrow because  _ Zark was gone and Zark died defending  _ **_him._ **

(He was slightly aware that he was… rather drunk.)

“...I sense… that you are not feeling well.” Ivy said quietly, sitting down next to Joe. Joe let out a hiccup and leaned against Ivy’s side, tears rolling down his cheeks. 

“Zark…” Joe sobbed.

“...w-what about Zark?” Ivy asked, horror slowly stretching across her face. 

“He… he got  _ shot.  _ He’s not… he’s not…”

“...gunshots are fatal.” Ivy stated, her face falling. It didn’t take long for her to put two and two together, and she slowly leaned against Joe, a shaky sigh escaping her lips. “Zark isn't…”

“No. He’s isn’t.” Joe wiped his eyes. “And it’s all  _ my fault. _ ” 

“...what do you mean?” Ivy asked quietly, hesitantly putting a hand on Joe’s shoulder.

And then he told her everything - just like how at first, Ivy told him (almost) everything about her situation, Joe was telling Ivy all about his situation, how the gangs ran and Saxon’s legacy. He spilled out his emotions, and it ended up with Ivy dragging him to bed because he was too drunk to do so himself. 

(What he didn’t remember was Ivy slowly and carefully tucking him in, then leaning down to pat his cheek gently, her lower lip wobbling.)

(She whispered an ‘I’m sorry’ into the quiet and left, looking back to check on Joe once more before she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.)

Joe woke up with a massive headache and immediately took an advil, steadying himself against the wall when he got dizzy.

_ Zark was gone. Zark was  _ **_gone._ **

Joe wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t-

Joe took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face. He needed to check on Ivy - not only had he vaguely remembered dropping a bombshell of information on her, Ivy was close with Zark too. 

Zark was the first thing that made Ivy  _ happy.  _

And even if she didn’t know it, Ivy had developed an emotional attachment to Zark. And losing Zark must’ve hurt her too. 

Joe quickly checked the time (it was 11:34 am; he probably wouldn’t open the cafe today…) and made his way to Ivy’s room, knocking on her door.

...no response.

Joe knocked again, frowning when there was no response again. Ivy didn’t typically sleep, but when she did, she was always up before 9:30. The light in her room wasn’t on, so maybe… she wasn’t even in her room.

After a moment of hesitation, Joe opened the door, peeking inside with a small frown. 

There was a big lump under the covers on Ivy’s bed, and it was shifting every now and again, but barely making any noise. Joe slowly walked in and closed the door behind him, watching the lump under the covers cautiously.

“...Ivy?” He asked quietly. 

There was a grunt from under the blankets, but Ivy offered nothing else. 

“Hey…” Joe lowered his voice to keep it from cracking and sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you… feeling okay?”

“I should be asking you that.” Ivy replied stiffly, not moving from her position. 

“...you helped me a lot last night by listening to what I had to say.” Joe said softly. “Are you… feeling something?”

“...I believe so.” Ivy pulled the covers away from her face, but still didn’t look at Joe. 

“Tell me.”

(This was a pattern they had fallen into - Ivy had begun to trust Joe so much that whenever she was feeling something she was unsure of, she would go to Joe to ask him about it.)

(It was… almost relieving. Joe was… doing something right.) 

“I feel… as if everything is wrong.” Ivy whispered, her voice… wavering slightly. “I don’t feel… normal.”

“You’re upset. You’re… grieving for the loss of Zark.” Joe rubbed at his eyes, glancing over at Ivy. “Sadness isn’t a word I’d use in this exact situation… but it’s the only word I can find right now.”

“...does ‘sadness’ always cause this much pain? I was aware that it caused pain, but…” Ivy trailed off, a heavy silence settling in the room. 

Joe felt his heart sink into his stomach. 

“...usually. But this is more… grief.” Joe stood up and walked over to the side of the bed, extending his hand to Ivy. Ivy rolled over in her bed, her eyes as dull as they were the first day Joe took her in. “It’s normal to feel pain when experiencing grief.” 

Ivy remained silent, her dull eyes still fixated on Joe’s hand. After a long moment of silence, Ivy untangled herself from the sheets and sat up, her eyes still on Joe’s hand.

She looked… almost cautious. 

(Joe knew that they hadn’t been together for long. He knew it had only been a little over a month. But...)

(If she took his hand right now, it would show that she had grown to  _ trust him. _ ) 

Ivy finally reached out, taking his hand almost hesitantly. With a soft smile, Joe pulled Ivy off of her bed and pulled her into a hug. 

Ivy immediately tensed in his arms, her eyes wide. “Wh… what is this?”

“A hug.” Joe replied simply. “It’s used when someone wants to comfort someone else who is sad.” 

Ivy fell silent, slowly relaxing in Joe’s hold. She hugged him back loosely and almost awkwardly, but the fact that she tried really made Joe’s heart melt.

“You are… sad as well.” Ivy murmured. “If… if hugs are meant to bring comfort, then I will hug you, too.”

Joe let out a weak chuckle, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. “Thank you, Ivy.”

(The day Joe put Zark’s photo up on the wall in the cafe, he did so while standing next to Ivy. When they took a step back to look at it, Ivy hesitantly leaned into his side, her eyes flickering up in surprise when he wrapped an arm around her.)

(...they were going to be just fine, Joe thought.)

(Just fine.) 

And then months passed - they coped with the loss of Zark and moved forward, dealing with the gangs in Joe’s own way. On the side, Ivy was attempting to wake Vanessa up, using different methods to try and wake her up.

(Joe didn’t know much about  _ that  _ situation - Ivy never really elaborated much on it - but he was sure to make sure that Ivy knew that he would help her if she needed anything.) 

The most impressive thing about her methods was that she had learned how to make music from emotion - she was composing her own music from the emotions she had felt and learned about. 

The whole Æsir incident came and went with confusion and panic, and it happened twice. Both times, it happened while Joe was in the bar and Ivy was out grocery shopping, so she had missed both events when they happened.

(In hindsight, Joe should have put two and two together, but he was more… concerned for Ivy’s safety, if anything.)

Months passed and Joe and Ivy continued to grow closer. Ivy was becoming accustomed to the feeling of… well, feeling emotions. She was better at identifying them - happiness, sadness, anger, annoyance - and she was better at expressing them. 

As the months came and went, they were filled with chaos - Simon got arrested on accusations that he was Æsir, Joe tried to break away from the gangs, and there was even a jailbreak staged to get Simon out of jail.

To top that all off, the drone attacks were beginning to get… scary. And deadly. 

The most dangerous of them all happened on an unsuspecting day when Joe had just finished restocking the shelves with Yamamteo and Ivy was out on another grocery run. 

Joe got… an odd phone call from Cherry and Simon asking if he was aware of what was happening outside. Before he could even get up, though, there was buzzing, ringing, and then an explosion.

The final thought Joe had as he faded into unconsciousness was a weak, faint,  _ Ivy-  _

And when he came to, someone was screaming his name. 

He felt… sticky. Wet, almost - wet all over. There was the creaking of… something, and a thud that signifies that something fell to the ground. Then, there were hands on his arms, tugging him out from under something.

...Joe felt fuzzy.

“Joe? Joe! Please - wake up!” Someone was shaking him -

_ Someone was crying. _

_ And their voice sounded painfully familiar. _

Joe forced himself to open his eyes, his vision blurry and his body hurting all over. His head was resting in someone’s lap, and from what he could see of his own body, it was covered in red liquid.

For two panicked seconds, he thought it was blood.

But from the smell of it, he quickly realized that it was yamameto covering him. 

The person who was holding him didn’t seem to realize this, though.

“Humans aren’t supposed to bleed this much.” A voice whispered to themselves in a panic, their hands frantically pressing on Joe’s legs and arms. “E-excessive bleeding can be deadly for humans - no, no no please-“ 

Joe blinked twice, trying to place the voice, trying to put the voice to a face because it was  _ so familiar, who was it who was it- _

Joe blinked twice, the blurriness slowly leaving from his vision and the ringing in his ears fading. He was more aware of his surroundings - rather, he was more aware of the fact that he was sitting in a pile of  _ rubble,  _ but that was the least of his worries.

Against all the odds, he was survived, covered in yamameto-

And Ivy was holding him, crying.

(...this was the first time Joe had seen her cry.)

(After all they’ve been through together, Joe had never seen her cry.)

“...hey.” Joe croaked out, trying to find his voice. Ivy gasped, her eyes widening. She looked down and saw Joe, conscious and  _ alive,  _ and let out a sound that sounded like a mixture of a laugh and a sob. 

“I thought… I thought you were-”

“It’s going to take a lot more than that to kill me.” Joe joked weaky. “I’m too stubborn to go down like that.”

“But… the blood-”

“It’s not blood.” Joe quickly reassured. He steadied himself against Ivy and sat up, leaning against her side when he managed to sit up. “It’s… it’s just yamameto. I restocked the shelves before it happened.” Ivy sobbed in relief, quickly wiping at her eyes in an attempt to rid herself of the tears. 

“I…” Ivy seemed to be struggling to find the words to use. “I believe I was… really worried. About you. I… I’m sorry.” 

Joe smiled weakly. “It wasn’t your fault. If anything, if you would have been here with me, something might have happened to you.”

“No you don’t… you don’t  _ understand.” _

Joe felt like he was back during the first week that he took in Ivy, listening to her confess what she had been keeping a secret. 

Ivy was Æsir. She had tried to gather human memories to create a foundation that would support the cyTus system and wake up Vanessa. When she woke up Vanessa, though, her memories mixed with all of the information in the system and grew to hate humans. 

The drone attack was a direct reflection of Vanessa’s desire to kill humans. And Ivy blamed herself for the events that happened.

And as they sat on top of the rubble and remains of what used to be Joez Cafe, Ivy cried for the first time in hundreds of years as Joe listened, both of them covered in yamameto and dirt and soot but they were  _ alive. _

Joe was okay, alive and breathing. Ivy was alive, experiencing emotions as they came to her. 

At the conclusion of Ivy’s rant, Joe brought Ivy into a tight hug, not knowing how to feel. On one side, he was… upset that Ivy kept this from him for such a long time - that she had been doing this behind his back and didn’t say anything when Simon got arrested. But the other side of him wanted to just hold her and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. 

“...I’m getting yamamteo all over you.” Joe found himself saying after a long moment of silence. Ivy let out a weak laugh, pulling away from Joe for a moment to wipe her cheeks. She grimaced whenever she realized that her hands were filled with yamamteo and that she had just gotten some on her cheeks. 

“...it’s fine.” She murmured, wiping her hands on her jacket. “...at least it’s not blood.” 

Joe snorted, beginning to wipe the drink off of his face. “We look like crazy people.”

“Just two people, sitting on top of a destroyed building covered in red.” Ivy deadpanned as Joe laughed. “Doesn’t look suspicious at all.” She paused for a moment. “Can you… can you stand? It’d be best to take you to get checked for… any additional injuries.”

Joe stretched out his legs with a small frown. “...I think so.” With the help of Ivy, Joe managed to pull himself up from the ground and onto his feet, letting Ivy drag him from the uneven floor and onto the concrete ground. “Well… the nearest hospital is 15 minutes away. How long do you think it’ll take until we get stopped for looking crazy?”

“I’m not sure…” Ivy played along as they began to walk down the street. “It depends on whether the humans on the street are scared enough to call authorities or freeze.” 

“Hm. I guess you’re right.” 

They walked in silence for a couple of blocks, drinking in the sight of the destruction and chaos that took place in the city streets. The drones were down for now, however, there were some laying in the middle of the street, and Ivy moved so that she was shielding Joe’s body with her’s.

Then, Ivy broke the silence.

“...I’m… really glad that you are okay.” Ivy said quietly, averting her gaze to the ground.

“I’m glad too.” Joe let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t stocked the shelves.”

He was trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t seem to be working. 

“...but thank you.” Joe smiled at Ivy. “Thank you for pulling me out and helping me. Thank you for everything.”

“...I feel like I should be thanking you. For… everything you have done.” 

Joe grinned proudly. “The greatest decision of my life was taking you in, and I will stand by that decision for the rest of my life.”

Ivy looked as if she was about to cry again, but she smiled and said nothing.

“You’re a good kid, Ivy,” Joe said wistfully.

“...I’m hundreds of years older than you.” 

“A good kid.”

Instead of huffing and rolling her eyes, she actually snorted this time, a flicker of happiness shining in her eyes.

(...Joe made her happy.)

(And Ivy made Joe happy.)

(And as they walked to the hospital together, Joe reflected on everything that had happened until now. He would definitely change some things - maybe stop Crystal Punk from disbanding somehow, save Zark somehow-)

(But the one thing he would never change was taking Ivy in and helping her.)

(Because if he was being honest with him, he saw Ivy as… a  _ daughter.  _ The daughter he wasn’t supposed to have, yet showed up.)

(And unbeknownst to him, Ivy saw him as… a father figure - someone who would help her and guide her as the days went along.)

(They had found a family in each other, against all the odds.)

(And they wouldn't trade what they had for the world.) 

**Author's Note:**

> :3


End file.
